sustainable living at our farm, inn & cooking school in Le Marche, Italy

Sunday, September 30

Outright Divine: Porcini Risotto with Truffle Oil

This year the mushroom hunting has been prolific! Every couple days we head into the woods with the Good Doctor, Gaggi and bring home baskets full in no time! The weather conditions are just right...(A full blog post with photos to come!) So what better way to enjoy our bounty than with a rich decadent porcini risotto topped with truffle oil made by our neighbor Alessandro Rossi!

If fresh porcini are not available in your area, try using crimini or chanterelle mushroom in combination with dried porcini that have been soaked in hot water to rehydrate. Do not discard this liquid! It will have a strong porcini taste and should be added to the stock for the rice.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion & garlic and sweat for 10 minutes or so over med-low heat with out browning. Add your mushroom and sweat them slowly until tender with a little stock to ensure that nothing burns. Season with salt and pepper.

Now raise the heat, add the rice and saute for a minute or two. Add in the wine and let it cook out.

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in another pot. Add a ladle-full of the hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until it has been absorbed into the rice.

Continue adding the stock, a ladle-full at a time, constantly stirring until each addition has been absorbed. This will take 18-20 minutes.

When the rice is al'dente, turn off the heat, add in a handful or two of grated parmesan, a bit of chopped parsley and give the rice one more stir, check seasoning. (It's important to be still a little al'dente because it will continue cooking in the liquids even as you serve.) Rice should be thick & creamy but not runny. Cover the pot and allow the rice to sit for a couple of minutes.

To serve, spoon the rice into each bowl and drizzle with extra special truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil and serve immediately.